A Different Path
by Erendhyl
Summary: He would be the one to end the lives of his clan. He would have to. Itachi knew that as soon as he was told of the planned Uchiha coup d’état. But this time he made a very different decision about his little brother. Itachi-centric not yaoi


A Different Path

A Different Path

**Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns Naruto, but he never said anything about Sasuke and Itachi…**

* * *

The light of dying sun in the western sky reflected brightly off of the blade of his katana, casting a beam of light through the otherwise darkened room. Itachi stared at the beautiful weapon mournfully for a second, already grieving for the acts that he would commit later that night. To his eyes, it seemed as though the blade was already dyed crimson with the blood of his clan. For a second, he allowed the sorrow he felt to make itself known on his face, shutting his eyes to blot out the images he was already seeing, images of his parents, aunts, uncles, and family lying dead in a pool of their own blood. He would be the one to shed that blood. He would have to. Itachi had known that since he had first been told of the planned Uchiha coup d'état those many months ago, yet he had always hoped that the Hokage's efforts to sway his clan members from their violent would succeed. They had not.

His face twisted in a mask of pain, all of his grief and impending loss expressed in that one moment. Less than a minute after making the expression, he forced himself to suppress it, returning his face to the impassive mask that he wore nearly every day of his life. It would be the last time that he would himself to openly show his grief until his task was complete.

His dark eyes found the form of the Hokage standing behind him. Sarutobi had obviously seen the display of emotion seconds before, yet he made no comment. Itachi was grateful for this. He didn't want the old man's pity, however well-meaning it might be. He was doing his duty to the village tonight. There was nothing more to it than that.

"I am ready, Hokage-sama." His voice was as emotionless as his face. The Sandaime nodded, his expression grave.

"Itachi…" he began, trailing off. "The village will forever be in your debt. Though they will not know of that, many of them will owe you their lives. It is a terrible thing you are preventing."

"I know that, Hokage-sama," Itachi replied, barely managing to keep the edge of impatience out of his voice.

"I know," the old man told him kindly, his tone implying that he meant more than just that he knew Itachi understood the facts, "but it is something you should be reminded of nonetheless. Not many would be able to make the kind of sacrifice you're making." Itachi could only bow his head and nod, trying to suppress the tears that were threatening to fall. He felt a warm hand on his shoulder and looked up into the kind eyes of the Sandaime Hokage.

"You will eternally have my respect and my gratitude, Itachi," the old man told the thirteen-year-old. Itachi nodded his head, not knowing how else to respond to such praise. Sarutobi gave his shoulder a final reassuring squeeze before lifting his hand and exiting the room, leaving the boy to pack his weapons. As much as Itachi hated being allowed to be alone with his thoughts, he was grateful for this. There was nothing the Hokage could say that would make what he was about to do any less painful, and they both knew it.

As a small blessing, he was not actually given that much time to be alone with his thoughts. Less than half a minute after the Hokage had left him, another figure entered the room. Itachi did not turn to look at the man, yet he recognized his chakra signature at once.

"You are ready then, Madara?" he asked.

"Yes," the ancient Uchiha replied, something like anticipation in his voice. Itachi turned to face him, somewhat annoyed with that zeal. He knew of Madara's grudge against the clan, but it still did not seem right for him to look forward to the murder of his kin. What he saw caused him to pause, if only for a moment, in confusion.

It was impossible to tell with the mask in the way, but from the set of his head, it looked as though Madara was staring at him. "Is something the matter?" Itachi asked. As much as he disliked the former Uchiha Head's attitude at the moment, it would be unwise for him to anger his ally.

"Why are you doing this, Itachi? You obviously care for your clan, far more than I do. Why are you willing to kill them?" Itachi smiled sadly, bitterly, as he replied to the question.

"It's not because I want to," he said. "I am simply doing my duty."

* * *

The light of the rising moon fell on the Uchiha Compound when Itachi entered it ten minutes later, bathing the neighborhood in a silvery light. It looked so serene, so peaceful. It made something in Itachi ache to know that soon that peace would be shattered, by him.

From his position just to the left of Itachi, Madara glanced at the boy for a moment before turning away, heading to another part of the Compound to begin his killing. Itachi fought down a surge of nausea at the thought. He could kill ninja in battle easily, knowing that if he failed his village would pay the price. It was another matter altogether when the ninja in question were peacefully living their lives in the comfort of their own homes, seemingly completely innocent.

With a mournful sigh, the young ANBU strode forward, heading toward the building he had known since his birth thirteen years ago, the building that had never quite been the sanctuary that its name was supposed to imply… the building in which his ghastly work would begin. It seemed fitting, in a way. His life had begun here, or at least, it had in his memories, since he was too young to remember when he was brought home from the hospital. It was only fitting that it should end here as well. Itachi's night-black eyes stared fixedly at the door to his parents' home as though it was in some way to blame for what must happen.

His parents were almost too easy to find. Fugaku and his wife always retired to the back room at night to relax for a while before going to bed. They were there this night as well.

"Sasuke? Is that you?" his mother's voice asked as his foot creaked on a loose floorboard outside the door. Itachi inwardly cursed that innocent plank of wood. He had hoped to make this quiet and painless. And yet, even as he felt rage flare within him, he knew that it was not an accident. Itachi was an ANBU Black Ops captain, the elite ninja of the village. He did not make foolish mistakes like stepping on a loose floorboard, especially not in a house as familiar to him as his own. If he made any noise at all, it was because some small part of him wanted his parents to know what was coming, to give them a chance to fight back. To let them die honorably, fighting off an attacker they could never hope to defeat, rather than being stabbed from behind and having their life fade away without ever knowing what had happened.

He pulled the double doors open, revealing himself to the people within. His father did not even blink at his son's appearance; Itachi had come home from work still dressed in his ANBU uniform too often for it to affect the head of Konoha's Military Police Force any longer. His mother, however, was different. Mikoto had always been closer to her sons than Fugaku, though her husband had spent plenty of time alone with Itachi during his training. She could recognize the subtle shifts in his face that were all her eldest son would show of what he was feeling, and she knew what this one meant. Her eyes met his, and Itachi saw no desire to fight in them. This surprised him. He knew that his mother had been a jounin before she had retired to raise him and, later, Sasuke. If she wanted to, she could easily have fought him, giving his father enough warning to prepare himself fully, possibly even shout for the other Uchiha to aid them. She did none of this. There was only calm acceptance in his mother's onyx eyes.

Itachi stepped forward into the room.

He moved to stand near his parents, easily within range of a swipe from his katana. The young Uchiha stood there for nearly a full minute, trying to mentally prepare himself for the act he must now commit, an act he would never be truly ready for even if he had a hundred years to prepare.

The soft whistle of a blade being drawn from its sheath would not have been heard by civilian ears. To the Uchiha Head and his wife though, it was as clear as though Itachi had stated his intent to draw the blade verbally. Fugaku leapt back, his eyes wide with confusion… and a trace of fear as he stared at his eldest son as though he had never seen him before.

Mikoto did not leap out of the way. She met her end calmly, staring at her son with a sorrow in her eyes that was not for herself, but for him. She did not want her child to have to commit such an act. Not Itachi. Not her little boy.

Her crimson blood flowed over the floor as Itachi's blade sliced through her body. The sight of it seemed to paralyze Fugaku. Certainly he did not attack as Itachi turned on him next. The katana stabbed viciously through the man's torso, slicing through layers of flesh and muscle and piercing through his back. Itachi pulled out his blade, causing the dying man to fall forward onto the already still body of his wife. He lifted his head weakly, as though trying to get one last glimpse of his son to take to the next life. He never did. His head fell limply to the floor as the last spark of life drained from his body.

Itachi did not even realize how fiercely his hands were trembling until he tried to sheath his katana. It kept knocking back and forth against the wooden sheath, making a hollow echoing sound. He forced his muscles to calm and cease their foolish shaking, a command which they obeyed after a moment's concentration. As he left that blood-stained room however, Itachi could not help but feel nauseated. This was only his first kill tonight. How powerfully would the others affect him?

* * *

Itachi stumbled through streets red with blood, wishing that he could gouge out his eyes now to prevent himself from having to see this. Those corpses right there were his Auntie and Uncle, the ones who owned the store near the entrance to the Compound. That was one of the members of the Police Force, a man who led a full squad of Uchiha into battle. He knew each and every one of them. Even if he had not had to kill all of them, he had had to kill some, and those were enough. They were more than enough.

It had taken quite some time for the clan to notice that they were being attacked. They would never have noticed at all, had one of the women not screamed before he could end her life. In a sick way, Itachi was almost glad for that scream. At least then, it had seemed as though he was fighting warriors in a battle, rather than slaughtering innocents in their beds. Never mind that these men and women were planning a rebellion that would leave the entire shinobi world teetering on the brink of war; they were still human. They were still members of his family. How could Madara have been pleased to help with this? To him, it had been hell.

He came to a stop before one particular house. He had been within this home almost as often as his own in recent years. Here lived one of the few people who Itachi held dear: his girlfriend. Perhaps girlfriend was the wrong term. They had been placed in an arranged marriage three years ago, when they were only ten, as soon as she had graduated from the Ninja Academy. At first he had all but loathed the girl, seeing her as another symbol of the clan's utter domination over his life. And yet, as time went on, they had begun to genuinely care for each other. For the last year, they had spent nearly as much time together as they had devoted to training. Maybe someday, had they been given the change, he could have grown to actually love her.

She had died second. Her house was near his, or at least, near enough to justify his decision. There were two houses between them, but only two, and he thought she had deserved it. Itachi wanted her death to occur near the beginning, before the deaths began to fade into one another, so that he would remember her final moments in bitter clarity. She had deserved that much at least from him.

Itachi turned his head sadly away from her house, no longer able to remember it as the haven he had sought so often of late. Now, whenever he looked at it, he would remember only the soft sound of her dying breath, and the sudden spurt of crimson blood that had accompanied it.

Almost instinctively, his eyes found his own house amid the carnage of the street. Corpses littered the road, yet by this point he had seen so much death that he no longer cared. Itachi trudged toward the once-beautiful house of the Clan Head, the sight slipping in and out of focus in front of his tired eyes. Madara had already left him, giving instructions of where they were to meet after he completed his duty. There was only murder left. Just one more murder and he would have completed his wretched duty. Itachi felt faintly sick at the thought.

He had no idea what prompted him to end it in their house, beyond those carnage-strewn streets. Maybe it was some twisted sense of caring, allowing the child to die beside his parents. Maybe he was being cruel, forcing the boy, only seven, to see the full horror of what Itachi had done. And maybe it was for his own comfort, to know that he would not be killing another unaware victim, but rather someone who had seen his previous work and knew what to expect. All he knew was that there was no way he could make himself meet Sasuke at the entrance to the Compound and end it there.

He did not have long to wait. No sooner had he settled himself in the shadows of the back room of his parents' house than he heard the screams coming from the road in front of the house, followed by the telltale sound of their front doors opening and a panicked question if his parents were alright. Sasuke was home.

Itachi waited, listening to the sounds of his brother's progress through the house. While Sasuke's untrained ears would not have been able to pick up any noise should their positions have been reversed, Itachi could hear his brother as plainly as though the child was in the same room. He heard Sasuke timidly ask if his parents were alright again before moving through the rooms in search of his family. Deciding that it would be kindest to end Sasuke's agonized searching quickly, Itachi deliberately knocked at one of the flower vases in the room, causing it to spill its contents to the floor. The small footsteps instantly turned toward the direction of the sound.

_He's only a boy,_ Itachi thought dimly. Those light footsteps, such an innocent thing, had made him painfully aware of how very young Sasuke was. How very little of life his brother had seen. _It would all end,_ he realized. Sasuke would never know what it felt like to graduate from the Academy and become a ninja; to find friends in his teammates, dear, dear friends; to fall in love and someday get married; to have kids and watch them grow up; to die old in bed. Any hope of any of that would be ended the moment his sword pierced his younger brother's body. Sasuke would never grow up.

He couldn't do it, Itachi realized. He could kill his best friend, his girlfriend, and his parents. But he couldn't kill his little brother.

Most siblings hated each other, or at least they pretended to. To most teenagers, friends and lovers would be the most important people, followed by parents, then siblings. Sasuke should not be the person he feared hurting the most.

There was a kind of logic to it though, a sick, grim logic. His parents had known what the Uchiha clan was planning; his father had been the one in charge of it. Shisui had all but begged for Itachi to kill him once they found out; he'd wanted his friend to gain the Mangekyo Sharingan, even at the expense of his own life, if it meant that he could protect their village. His girlfriend, no matter how close they had been, had known exactly what their family was planning. She had been fully aware of his role as Fugaku's spy, and she had consoled him about it often enough. But she had never felt that what their clan was doing was wrong, that the Uchiha should not attack their home village.

Sasuke had never known what was happening. He was too young; the Clan Council had been unwilling to tell him despite the fact that he was Fugaku's son. Sasuke would find out when they ruled the village, and not before then. There had been no way to spare his parents, Shisui, or his love. They would all have felt a desire, no matter how cleverly hidden, to see Uchiha's plans come to pass, to see their clan revived to its former glory. Sasuke would never feel those desires. He would only remember the clan that was his family, never knowing what had happened beneath his unsuspecting nose. Sasuke would be safe.

The footsteps paused outside of the door. Itachi reached his decision in that instant.

"Sasuke… don't come in here," he said. There was a moment's more silence, then the soft plunk of Sasuke's footfall, and another. Itachi inwardly cursed as his brother opened the doors, revealing the corpses of his parents.

"Otousan! Okaasan!" he cried, his voice agonized. The shadows concealed his elder brother from view for the split second that was required for Itachi to think of a plan.

He stepped forward into the patch of moonlight.

"Nii-san!" Sasuke cried, sounding vaguely relieved that his brother, at least, had not been killed. "Itachi, Otousan and Okaasan are both… I don't understand. Who could do all this?" He sniffled quietly at the end. That small sound was all it took for Itachi's mask of apathy to shatter. His little brother was right in front of him, and he was crying. Sasuke needed him.

Itachi closed the distance between them and gently placed one of his arms about Sasuke's shoulders, hugging his younger brother to him. Sasuke sobbed quietly into his armor, and Itachi let him. After what he had just done, what Sasuke had been forced to go through because of him, his brother more than deserved to be allowed to cry.

Itachi did not know how long they stood there for. He comforted his brother as best he could, but most of what he did for Sasuke was simply to sit there beside him, a small link to the life he had led only that morning. Itachi would always be that link. For as long as Sasuke needed him, he would be there. He would not hurt his little brother.

After what felt like years but probably wasn't more than an hour, Sasuke's sobs began to quiet. They slowly faded away, until they were nothing more than a faint hiccupping coming from the boy. Itachi lifted his head to see his brother's eyes closing. A tender smile broke over his face as he watched his younger brother drift off to sleep in his arms. It seemed ironic that Sasuke was so trusting of him, when he was the one who had caused the tears that flowed down his face mere minutes before.

The soft, even breathing coming from his brother informed Itachi that Sasuke had fallen asleep. The former Konoha ANBU member sighed as he realized what he would need to do, but he did not hesitate. He couldn't risk Sasuke waking up at the wrong time and hearing something he shouldn't. A few hand seals were all it took to place him in a genjutsu that would leave him asleep until Itachi released it. Sasuke sighed in his sleep as the illusion took effect, but apart from that he showed no reaction. Itachi gently picked the small boy up, placing him on his back in such a way that he would not be jostled too much when he traveled. Itachi turned one last time to look at the still bodies of his parents. The blood pooled around their bodies made it impossible to really pretend that they were only sleeping, but Itachi tried all the same.

"I'm going to protect him," he promised them quietly. "I will never allow anything to happen to Sasuke. I know you can never truly forgive me for what I have taken from you, but please… know that I will never cease to regret your loss. And please, even if all you can feel for me is hatred, please watch over Sasuke. He is innocent. Please do not take your anger out on him." It may only have been his imagination, but Itachi could have sworn that he heard his mother's voice on the breath of wind that whistled through the still room. It whispered softly to him.

_"Of course I will watch over you, my son. I will watch over both of you, forever."_

He allowed a sad smile to creep over his features. "Sayonara, Okaasan, Otousan," he told them sadly. Itachi turned away from their bodies, and, after checking to make sure that his grip on Sasuke's tiny body was firm, he set off into the night, heading in the direction of the Hokage Tower.

He did not once look back.

* * *

A cool breeze stirred the otherwise warm night air, playing with the bottom of the Hokage's robe he was forced to wear when on duty. There was really no need for such formal attire so late at night, but the Council had insisted, and what the Council wanted the Council got. Sarutobi gazed out over his beloved village and sighed. He could see everything from his vantage point atop the Hokage Tower, from the Monument behind it all the way to the front gates. It looked so fragile, so peaceful, and yet it seemed that the tiniest breath of wind could shatter that peace. It nearly had been shattered, and it was only through the efforts of one man—little more than a boy really, he reminded himself; Itachi was only thirteen—that his village had not been thrown into chaos once again.

Now he stood here, waiting for that same adult-child to arrive and tell him that the mission had been completed.

Sarutobi sighed again. What kind of world forced someone to make these kinds of decisions? He was not speaking of himself, the man who had had to issue the order that would send dozens of people to their deaths. He was speaking of Itachi, the ANBU captain and teenager who had had to decide between his loyalty to the village and his loyalty to his family. There was no justice in being forced to decide between the two.

He turned when he heard the soft whistle of wind that was all that would alert anyone to Itachi's arrival. His eyes widened almost as soon as they found the boy, for Itachi was not alone. Held firmly on his back was the small body of a seven-year-old boy, his little brother Sasuke.

"Hokage-sama," Itachi addressed him respectfully, "please forgive me. I could not allow Sasuke to be murdered for something he bore no part in. He is innocent, and I beg you to spare his life." He bowed as low as the child on his back allowed him. Sarutobi's eyes softened at his request. The expression on Sasuke's face was peaceful as he slept. He felt safe in the arms of his elder brother and would follow Itachi anywhere the now-former ANBU asked. There was something to be preserved in that sort of trust.

"Your request is granted," the Sandaime told Itachi. The young Uchiha rose from his deep bow, this time making a much smaller dip.

"Arigatou, Hokage-sama."

"I trust that the rest of your mission was a success?" Naked sorrow flashed across Itachi's countenance before he suppressed it.

"Hai, it was," he informed his leader dutifully. Not a trace of emotion had made its way into his voice, yet even still the Hokage was fully aware of the pain the young ninja felt right now. Even more, he was painfully aware that nothing he could say would console the former Uchiha heir in the slightest. Nothing could ease the kind of guilt that Itachi now felt.

"Where will you go now?" he asked Itachi after a minute or so of silence.

"Akatsuki," the Uchiha replied simply. "As you know, for many years already, I have belonged to that organization. Madara has offered me a place there after my work tonight was completed."

"And will you take Sasuke with you?" Sarutobi prompted. Itachi turned his head to look at the sleeping face of his baby brother.

"Yes," he said. "Danzo and the Elders will wish to kill him if they find out of his survival. He would only be in danger if he remained in the village."

"Alright," the Third Hokage sighed wearily. "Fare you well, Itachi."

"Fare you well, Hokage-sama." With those words, Itachi was gone. He was a Konoha ninja no more.

* * *

Itachi leapt through the trees of the massive forest that gave Konoha its name, trying to jostle his small burden as little as possible. Madara had told him where they would meet once his task that night had been completed. Dawn was already breaking over the horizon, its rays lightening the forest around him as birds began to herald the new day. Most would have been grateful of the light that made it easier to travel, but to Itachi it was only a curse. The village would be waking up soon. Soon someone would discover the bodies littering the Uchiha Compound. It would only take a matter of hours for them to realize the killer, and then the Hunter-nin would be sent after him. He hoped that he would have found the Akatsuki by that time.

Sasuke mumbled in his sleep, and Itachi knew that even unconscious his brother could sense the rays of sun pouring over them. He needed to find the Akatsuki now!  
A kunai whistled by him, nearly piercing his arm as he situated himself so that his body would shield Sasuke from the weapon. Itachi smirked and leapt down, landing with ease on the soft forest floor.

"Greetings, Itachi," Madara addressed him, stepping forward towards the nuke-nin, his visible eye instantly flicking to the line newly slashed through the Konoha symbol on his forehead protector. Itachi nodded to him while mentally sizing up the two men accompanying him. One of them he had met before, a blue-skinned shark-like human. His resemblance to the fish was only strengthened by the gill-like markings on his cheeks, as well as the pointed teeth decorating his mouth. Hoshigaki Kisame was his name if Itachi recalled correctly. The other man he did not know. His resemblance to a typical human being was even less than Kisame's. He was incredibly hunched over, barely taller than Itachi's waist, and the little skin Itachi could see around his eyes appeared to be the same brown as the trees around him. In fact, its texture did appear to be more like wood than skin. Itachi blinked at this, an action which Madara noticed.

"Itachi, these are two of the other members of Akatsuki. You already know Kisame, and this is Akasuna no Sasori." Both men nodded at him, and he nodded back.

"What is that?" Sasori asked, his voice echoing strangely, as though he was speaking through wood as well as looking like it. He had extended a cloaked hand to point at the limp figure of Sasuke on Itachi's back.

"Kai," Itachi whispered, releasing the genjutsu he had placed upon his younger brother. Almost instantly, the boy began to stir groggily.

"Nii-san?" he addressed Itachi sleepily. Itachi nodded, a small amount of warmth appearing in his eyes at the sound of his brother's voice.

"I'm going to set you down now Sasuke."

"Alright." Itachi gently lifted the boy off his back, placing him on the ground in front of him. The younger Uchiha blinked up at the strange men before him, sleep rapidly fading from him as he took in their strange appearances.

"It's a kid," Kisame said, sounding thrilled by the prospect. Something in his tone of voice made Itachi take an involuntary step closer to Sasuke so that he hovered over the small child protectively.

"Would you like me to make it into a puppet?" Sasori asked, leaning forward to inspect the boy. Sasuke cringed slightly against Itachi, fear in his eyes as he stared back at Sasori.

"No," Itachi all but snapped at them. "Sasuke is not to be harmed." Sasori withdrew with an annoyed look. "Anyone that hurts him will answer to me." Madara turned to look at him, and for a second Itachi feared that he would refuse to allow Sasuke to remain in Akatsuki. Then he nodded.

"Alright. Everyone, meet the newest member of Akatsuki: Uchiha Sasuke."

* * *

**A/N: Before anyone asks, I am not going to write a multi-chaptered story about this. Anyone who wants to use the idea is free to do so (as long as they tell me first), but I have no further ideas for this.**

**If Madara was OOC, I apologize, but so far he hasn't done enough in the series for me to have any real idea of how he acts. Tobi has done plenty, but we haven't seen him do much of anything as Uchiha Madara.**

**As for having Itachi kill his parents first and then return to the house later for Sasuke, I believe that is believable. If you look at the positions his parents' bodies were lying in, plus some of what he showed Sasuke in the Tsukuyomi shown in the anime, it looked like his parents were not aware of what was going on until he killed them. If he'd killed them last and just finished when Sasuke showed up, then they would have been fully aware of what was happening, given the battle that was shown in the streets.**


End file.
